Veggie-Packed Gut-Healthy Dinners Ready in 30 Minutes or Less (& Shopping List!)

Our column, ThePrep, has everything you’ll need to make dinner planning and grocery shopping as easy as can be. Nutritional needs differ from one individual to another, and we invite you to use these dinner plans as inspiration and adjust them as you see fit. Sign up to get a dinner plan delivered to your inbox every Saturday!

I have a love-hate relationship with Labor Day weekend—the unofficial end of summer. I am truly a fall girl, so I look forward to the cool, crisp days and all things apples, pumpkins and falling leaves, but I still don’t like to see summer coming to an end. So before we all embrace fall, let’s give summer a final hurrah with a collection of quick gut-healthy dinners that are packed with all the vegetables that make us think “summer,” like corn, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, tomatoes and bell peppers, and fresh herbs like basil and cilantro. To help improve your gut health—which supports your immune health, can reduce your risk for chronic disease and more—these dinners are all high in fiber and contain probiotic– or prebiotic-rich foods, per our nutrition parameters.

Your Weekly Plan

Sunday: Lemon Zucchini Pasta
Monday: No-Cook White Bean & Spinach Caprese Salad
Tuesday: Sauteed Corn with Basil & Shallots
Wednesday: Grilled Vegetable & Black Bean Farro Bowls
Thursday: Lentil Salad with Feta, Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Olives
Friday: Cauliflower Gnocchi with Asparagus & Pesto

Sunday: Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Styling: Lindsey Lower

This bright, lemony pasta is perfect for a late-summer evening. The combination of whole-wheat spaghetti and lots of zucchini ensures that the dish is full of gut-healthy fiber. Some heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, plus a bit of the pasta cooking water, combine to create a luscious sauce. Because it’s also packed with antioxidants and vitamin C, this dish will give extra support to your immune system.

Monday: No-Cook White Bean & Spinach Caprese Salad

Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Addelyn Evans

This no-cook salad features gut-healthy, fiber-rich white beans and baby spinach and the always-welcome trio of tomato, basil and mozzarella. The beans are a source of prebiotics, which help support gut health by feeding the microbes in your gastrointestinal tract. The salad takes just 10 minutes to throw together, which means you have time to throw a few steaks on the grill to go with it and make the most of being outside. Grilling season is not quite over yet, after all.

Tuesday: Sautéed Corn with Basil & Shallots

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless

Now’s the time to scour the farm stands for those last ears of sweet corn. And when you find them, you can make this easy dish by cutting the kernels off the cobs and heating them in a pan with melted butter until softened. Stir in some shallots and basil, and you’re done. It might be simple but it’s also satisfying since corn is high in fiber and gut-healthy resistant starch. Garlic-Butter Salmon Bites are just the right sidekick for the sweet corn.

Wednesday: Grilled Vegetable & Black Bean Farro Bowls

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

Zucchini, squash, eggplant, bell peppers … these bowls are heaped with vegetables. Plus they have black beans and farro, so they’re packed with fiber, which is so important for gut health. And just like the white beans in Monday’s salad, black beans are a great source of prebiotics. It’s all topped with a cilantro-lime dressing, which adds brightness.

Thursday: Lentil Salad with Feta, Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Olives

Jennifer Causey

For this quick salad, you’ll combine traditional Greek salad ingredients—cucumbers, tomatoes, feta and red onions—with high-fiber, prebiotic-rich lentils. The lentils give the salad a heartiness, while the vegetables keep the summer vibes going. Serve it with some rotisserie chicken on the side, or shred the chicken and stir it right in if you like.

Friday: Cauliflower Gnocchi with Asparagus & Pesto

Carolyn Hodges, M.S., RD

Why not make Friday night a stay-at-home date night, with this cauliflower gnocchi for two? It takes just 10 minutes to make, since it calls for frozen cauliflower gnocchi and store-bought pesto. If you’re like me and have homemade pesto stashed in your freezer, you can use that instead. The asparagus adds nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C and folate. Serve it with some crusty whole-grain bread.

I wish you all a great week, and I hope you enjoy this dinner plan. If you try a recipe, remember to add a review.

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